[NatureNS] re wild lily of the valley fruits & dispersers

From: Jim Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca>
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 22:54:51 -0800
References: <936338A3CC844AD1BC9BCA736447BB09@D58WQPH1>
To: naturens <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects

  man

--Apple-Mail=_187657E1-0BE1-459C-98C8-6940A52F2157
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset=windows-1252

Dave is again right on about the mourning dove.  When I arrived in Nova =
Scotia in 1975, mourning doves were almost entirely winter birds here, =
and the first nest was found in 1978 or 79 by Eva Urban at Avonport, =
where Eva had been feeding large winter numbers for many years?  After =
the early 1980s mourning doves gradually and eventually spectacularly =
increased in their summer numbers and distribution, so that now for a =
couple of decades they are one of our most widespread and common summer =
nesting species.

Cheers from Jim in Whistler, B.C. but soon to be back in N.S.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>
> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] re wild lily of the valley fruits & dispersers
> Date: December 22, 2014 at 5:32:39 PM PST
> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
> Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
>=20
> Hi Jim & All,
>     You reminded me that I was going to withdraw Mourning Dove as a =
dumb idea. It could be involved now I suppose but  >60 years ago they =
were absent or very rare and some other creature(s), which has/have been =
here all along, must be involved.
> DW
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jim Wolford
> To: naturens
> Sent: Monday, December 22, 2014 9:12 PM
> Subject: [NatureNS] re wild lily of the valley fruits & dispersers
>=20
> Just a brief comment from one who knows very little.  Despite Nick=92s =
or Dave=92s comments that the berry-like fruits of this species are =
nearly fleshless, they are very widespread and abundant in edge habitats =
as well as forested ones, I suspect these fruits are popular with many =
species of birds as well as small mammals like deer mice & red-backed =
voles & squirrels & what else?
>=20
> Cheers from Jim, currently in Whistler, B.C., and enjoying the =
naturens gabs.
>=20
> Begin forwarded message:
>=20
>> From: Nicholas Hill <fernhillns@gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Scat
>> Date: December 22, 2014 at 1:33:27 PM PST
>> To: "naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
>> Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
>>=20
>> Seeds are mostly singletons in fruits of 29 fruits, 21 are =
one-seeded,
>> 6 two, and 2 three seeded. Seeds range from 2.5 to 3.5mm in long
>> dimension (roughly spheres) and the grits in the scat, judging from
>> the photo I posted , look like they are quartz from granite and =
appear
>> the same size as the seeds.
>>=20
>> We haven't seen mourning doves yet but there are lots of junco. The
>> dispersal of wild lily of valley is pretty much done except for
>> populations in isolated areas, such as where I just got the fruits.
>> The animal dispersal of native plants is relatively unexplored in =
Nova
>> Scotia.
>> Nick
>>=20
>> On Mon, Dec 22, 2014 at 3:30 PM, David & Alison Webster
>> <dwebster@glinx.com> wrote:
>>> Hi Nick & All.                                Dec 22, 2014
>>>    I assume you are referring to Mainthemum canadense because Wild
>>> Lily-of-the-Valley is the usual common name for this. It has two =
locules and
>>> one to four seeds. I suppose seeds may be unusually large if only =
one ovule
>>> is fertilized.
>>>=20
>>>        I know almost nothing about bird crops but isn't 3-mm large =
grit for
>>> something the size of a Junco ? That is about the size of grit we =
gave
>>> poultry I think. Is Mourning Dove possible ? They frequent =
Mainthemum
>>> habitat and gravel roads..
>>>=20
>>>    On the subject of seed spreading, years ago I found several =
hoards of
>>> fruiting M. canadense plants, piled neatly in the chinks of a =
woodpile when
>>> hauling wood. [I cut firewood into 16" lengths, tier it in the woods =
and
>>> cover the tier top with polyethylene. The cumulative length of tiers =
over 33
>>> years would be about 8000' and I have found hoards of M. canadense =
only
>>> once.] Either it is rarely hoarded or hoarded in other locations..
>>>    I suspected Gapper's Red-backed Mouse because they were common =
there for
>>> many years and often seen when I was hauling wood; usually leaving a =
nest
>>> they had made in a tier. Unless the seed coat is unusually hard, =
Mice would
>>> likely destroy the seeds when eating the dried fruit  But if they =
carried
>>> fruiting plants away from a patch, hid them in soil or under litter =
and did
>>> not return then dispersal could be effected.
>>> Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
>>>=20
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: Nicholas Hill
>>> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
>>> Sent: Monday, December 22, 2014 12:49 PM
>>> Subject: [NatureNS] Scat
>>>=20
>>> I wondered if any naturalist had an idea about what possible bird =
would eat
>>> fruits of wild lily of the valley. It was a small scat and its crop
>>> contained grit about the same diameter..maybe 3mm.. as the small =
seeds.
>>> An aside: the Young Naturalists had a Christmas Bird count in =
Berwick and we
>>> found a coyote scat that was all apple pomace then we found a =
squirrel's
>>> feeding log that had bits of apple scattered about but no seeds.
>>> Could juncos be dispersing the wild lily of the valley seeds? The =
single
>>> seed takes up most of the fruit interior.
>>> Nick
>>>=20
>>> No virus found in this message.
>>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>>> Version: 2015.0.5577 / Virus Database: 4257/8781 - Release Date: =
12/21/14
>=20
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 2015.0.5577 / Virus Database: 4257/8781 - Release Date: =
12/21/14
>=20


--Apple-Mail=_187657E1-0BE1-459C-98C8-6940A52F2157
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset=windows-1252

<html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html =
charset=3Dwindows-1252"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
-webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">Dave =
is again right on about the mourning dove. &nbsp;When I arrived in Nova =
Scotia in 1975, mourning doves were almost entirely winter birds here, =
and the first nest was found in 1978 or 79 by Eva Urban at Avonport, =
where Eva had been feeding large winter numbers for many years? =
&nbsp;After the early 1980s mourning doves gradually and eventually =
spectacularly increased in their summer numbers and distribution, so =
that now for a couple of d